This spoof on John Buchan’s 1915 novel and Hitchcock’s 1935 film The 39 Stepsstarted life as a four-person show that was having
great success in pubs and small theatres in England. It is still a four-person
show but has been adapted by British writer and actor Patrick Barlow as a major theatre production. His The 39 Steps made the West End of London after a stint in
Yorkshire, won the 2007 Olivier Award for best new comedy and is now travelling
the world. It comes the Melbourne from a season in New York.

The original concept by Simon
Corble and Nobby Dimon draws its material mainly from the book, but Barlow
has based his version on the Hitchcock film, which is much more familiar to
most people and contains some of the crucial dramatic incidents as well as a
fair amount of comedy. Much of the screenplay and the film’s humour has been
transferred into the play, so that the theatrical version is not a satire of
the original, but an extension of it, mining the comic element.

The Melbourne Theatre
Company production of The 39
Stepsuses the director of the
London and Broadway productions Maria Aitken and the Movement Director from London Toby
Sedgwick. The cast and the rest of
the crew are local. John Bolton
joins Sedgwick to work on the movement. With two of the actors playing over 100
roles there is plenty of movement to coordinate! The result is superb slapstick
and quick-change character and set shifts. It is remarkable what one door, one
window frame, a curtain and a few cabin trunks can do in the right hands!

Our hero Richard Hannay is
played by Marcus Graham, who is
adept at physical drama and launches himself through many windows and doors in
his efforts to escape the police and the spies who are tailing him. He models
himself on Hitchcock’s star Robert Donat, laconic and affable, with only a
touch of the stiff upper lip. A few heavier brush strokes to delineate the
character would lift his performance to the excellent. Helen Christinson plays the three women in his life - Pamela, Annabella
and Margaret - as various cinematic female prototypes, the dark vamp, the cool
blonde and the innocent country girl. She moves fluently and convincingly
between roles and used a fine range of accents and tones, but seemed to have
trouble projecting her voice without straining.

All the other roles are
played by Grant Piro and Tony
Taylor. Sitting at the back of the
circle, it took me some time to realise why I was feeling unhappy with the
incongruous performances. Once I realised that there were only two men
performing every minor role, I relaxed into appreciating their versatility and
being astonished by their comedic talents, not to mention their physical
virtuosity as they juggle costumes and hats and props within the same brief
scenes. Between them they portray some memorable characters: the Scottish
crofter, the ice-cream girl and the hotelier and his wife, all with impeccable
timing.

Melodrama, which is what
this is, is very difficult to accomplish and not often attempted now. Its
humour treads a fine line between drama and farce. The play started with
restraint and became more animated as it continued. In the second half, once
the audience was settled into expecting melodrama and enjoying the multiple
role-playing, the actors stepped up the pace and met with a much more
enthusiastic response. The actors started to relax and take more risks. The
exaggerated characterisations and movements worked well. If the actors had
taken more opportunities to address the audience directly, the melodrama could
have been even more effective.

The play is punctuated with
one-liners, some from the film and some new ones, as well as wonderful visual,
musical and verbal references to other Hitchcock films - Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho - incorporated into Mic Pool’s sound design. A large part of the humour is derived from the set and
costumes of Peter McKintosh,
which he designed for speed and which are used to create masterful illusions of
the film’s locations and sets.

With a little more
confidence and tomfoolery from the two protagonists, The 39 Stepsshould be a hit with Melbourne audiences. All the
ingredients are there. It is refreshing to see a play at the MTC that is pure
entertainment and hopefully the cast a will be inspired to add local
improvisations and stage business to Barlow’s fine script.

Comments (2)

...

utterly brilliant.. funny and light hearted. The transformations of character were nothing short of incredulous. slapstick used was evidently humorous. i really enjoyed it, planning on seeing it again. The cast did a really good job.

pleased ,
April 16, 2008

...

Marvelous! I thoroughly enjoyed it and agree that the character transformations were superb. The actors use of expressive and performance skills were consistent and sustained throughout the entire performance. The timing was impeccable, I am yet to find a fault. Highly recommend this play to anyone. A genre in which the entire family can enjoy.